By Bae Ji-sook
International labor unions will gather in Seoul to discuss job creation and other labor issues ahead of the G20 Seoul Summit.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and umbrella labor groups, a meeting of global labor leaders, including the heads of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD, will be held at the Lexington Hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul, from Wednesday through Thursday.
The leaders will participate in a trade union summit on behalf of 176 million unionized workers in 151 countries.
The group will tackle the most urgent issue of unemployment. They will request G20 leaders to set out measures against the falling employment rate and establish a working group involving representatives of the government, employers and trade unions to tackle the problem.
Also included as agenda items are reducing budget deficits through economic growth, ensuring quality employment, creating green jobs and clamping down on tax havens.
Sharon Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC, and heads of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions will visit President Lee Myung-bak who will likely ask for cooperation from the labor leaders for the successful hosting of the G20 summit.
The leaders are also planning to meet Labor Minister Bahk Jae-wan.
According to the ITUC, there are more than 220 million people currently unemployed around the world, the highest level ever recorded.
“After a promising start by the G20 on employment and financial regulation, progress stalled at the last summit in Toronto,” Burrow was quoted as saying by her organization’s website before her departure for Korea.
Burrow said governments need to cooperate to jointly tackle the issue when they meet in Seoul.
“Coordinated action to generate decent jobs must be supported by effective regulation of banking and finance, including the introduction of a Financial Transactions Tax to take the burden of recovery off the shoulders of workers and make the banks, who caused the crisis, pay their fair share,” she said.
1 | Korean Lunar New Year vs. Chinese Lunar New Year |
![[INTERVIEW] Production company AStory expects great success with 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' franchise](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/06bfe09b25694aafbd347202cbad4257.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
